The World's Coolest Watercolors

Let the kids chill out and get artsy with ice cube paints!

Submitted by
Andrey Ragozin

Get your kid's artistic juices flowing with these super chill ice cube paints. They are seriously the coolest art supplies around. And since they're edible, you don't have to worry when you catch your kid sucking on them!

Food coloring:
As many shades as you want.
Ice cube tray
Water:
The regular old stuff from the tap will do.
Coffee stirrers:
Raid your local coffee shop.
Freezer:
Move over ice cream, there's a new fabulous frozen good in the 'hood!
Paper:
Watercolor paper from an art supply store works best, since flimsy printer paper falls apart if it gets wet. You can use construction paper, too. We won't tell MoMA!
Newspaper or plastic tablecloth:
Protect your table.

Lay down your tablecloth or newspaper and gather all of your supplies.
Help your child squeeze about six drops of each shade of food coloring into separate ice cube sections. You can make new hues by mixing the primary colors: red, yellow and blue.
Fill each section ¾ full of water.
Place the ice cube tray into the freezer.
Grab your child a popsicle while you're in there to pass the freezing time.
Before the paints completely freeze—when they are the consistency of slushy snow—have junior place a coffee stirrer into the middle of each section. You need them to be frozen enough so that the stirrer stands up and doesn't flop over.
Freeze. Depending on your freezer, it should take about two to five hours for the cubes to solidify. You may want to make the cubes in the early morning and use them in the afternoon. Or make 'em one day and paint with 'em the next.
Get you child to help clean up the paint-making supplies.
When the cubes are frozen and your kid is ready to paint, put out the watercolor or construction paper. (You probably want to keep the newspaper or tablecloth, for obvious reasons.)
Pop the paint cubes out of the ice cube tray.
Have your child hold the watercolor cubes by their sticks and paint on the paper. Van Gogh, eat your heart out!